This invention relates to a novel composition comprising glyceryl monostearate and refined, bleached and de-odorized palm stearin, which has the characteristics of, and is useful as a substitute for paraffin wax in the manufacture o several products, including candles, shoe polishes, waxed paper, waxed paper cups, and similar products. Paraffin wax is bought and sold on the basis of different specifications depending on its intended end use. The composition of this invention can be made to match the various specifications of paraffin wax simply by varying the weight percent of glyceryl monostearate therein. The composition of this invention is compatible with paraffin wax, in that it produces a homogeneous product upon being melted into paraffin wax.
The composition of this invention, which comprises glyceryl monostearate and refined, bleached and de-odorized palm stearin, is derived solely from vegetable sources. Palm stearin is the more solid fat obtaining by fractionation of palm oil. A co-product of the fractionation of palm oil is palm olein, which is the more liquid and unsaturated fat obtained from palm oil. Glyceryl monostearate is a mixture of glyceryl monoesters, including glyceryl monostearate and glyceryl monopalmitate, and minor amounts of diesters and triesters of edible fats and oils, which has been concentrated by a process of molecular distillation so that the minimum monoester content is 90%.
As a vegetable replacement for a mineral product, the composition of this invention is subject to separate market influences than paraffin wax, and therefore provides an economically advantageous alternative to paraffin wax.
The composition of the present invention is produced by a process by which refined, bleached and deodorized palm stearin is hydrogenated and then mixed with glyceryl monostearate, so that the product formed has a glyceryl monostearate content of about 1 to 5 percent by weight of the palm stearin.
The prior art is devoid of references which disclose the hydrogenation of the separated palm stearin fraction of palm oil. While the hydrogenation of various oils, including palm oil, to alter the melting point of the compound is known, it is generally the olein or liquid fraction of palm oil which is hydrogenated to saturate the double bonds of the oil and thus raise the melting point. Because the stearin component of most oils is already fully saturated, there is no advantage to hydrogenating it. Palm stearin, however, is a mixture including several different unsaturated compounds which could be saturated by hydrogenation.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,942,984 to Wissebach, discloses hydrogenation of a liquid fraction of palm oil to prepare a hard fat similar to cocoa butter. However, the patent does not disclose the hydrogenation of the palm stearin fraction of palm oil.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,975,063 to Paul also discloses the preparation of a cocoa butter substitute by fractionation of a hydrogenated palm oil. However, only the liquid fraction of the palm oil is used. Further, the final product disclosed therein has a softening point in the range of 30.degree. C. to 45.degree. C.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,105,844 to Toyama, discloses hydrogenating palm oil and subsequently fractionating it. However, according to that patent, only the polyunsaturated fatty acids are hydrogenated and only to the mono-unsaturated stage.
The prior art is also devoid of references which disclose or suggest a wax material made from hydrogenated palm stearin and glyceryl monostearate.